Nag Panchami is the Nag-snake festival to worship. The snakes are frightening reptiles as some of them are toxic. The so-called Nag snakes are generally toxic cobra snakes. To be secure from the snakes, the festival is celebrated.
Kathmandu’s individuals go to Lake Taudaha, Naagpokhari to worship the Naag. Naagdaha also regarded one of the locations to go to Naag Panchami Puja at Dhapakhel in Lalitpur.
A story of Nag Panchami
There are different stories to explain why individuals began worshiping the god of the snake. According to a legend, a farmer murdered three baby snakes while plowing on the field. It crept into the house when the mother snake discovered out about death and murdered everyone in the house.
All but one of the farmer’s daughters had moved that night to a neighbor’s house. She escaped the bite of the snake and survived. When the Nag discovered the girl had survived, she also went to bite her. But when she visited the house, the girl began to worship the Nag and offered her food. The snake god was very pleased with the daughter’s devotion. She brought everyone back to life later, and happily the family lived.
The survival tale spread all over the location and they began to worship the god of the Nag.
Mahabharata Story
According to different mythological scriptures such as Agni Purana, Skanda Purana, Narada Purana and Mahabharata take account of snakes worship.
King Parikshita of the Kuru dynasty was murdered by a snake bite by the snake king named Taksaka, according to the Mahabharata epic. King Parikshita’s son, Janamejeya, was so angry at the death of his father that he made a Yagya snake sacrifice, called Sarpa Satra. A sacrificial fireplace was ready for the Yagya to kill all the world’s snakes. The sacrifice was so strong that all the snakes fell into the kunda of Yagna (sacrificial fire pit).
However, the snake king Takshaka fled to Indra’s lower world to seek his protection. The sages at the Kunda of Yagna improved the tempo of reciting mantras to drag Takshaka to the Kunda of Yagna. Takshaka had coiled around the cot of Indra. The sacrificial yagna’s strength was so strong that Indra was pushed towards the fire along with Takshaka.
The gods were frightened, and Manasadevi was called upon to fix the crisis. Manasadevi told her son Astika to go to the yagna site and ask Janamejaya to prevent the yagna of Sarpa Satra. Astika’s understanding of all the Sastras impressed Janamejaya. When Janamejaya given a boon to Astika –Janamejeya was asked by Astika to prevent the Sarpa Satra. As the king was bound by his promise, he was unable to refuse a Brahmin boon. Then the yagna was halted and Indra and Takshaka’s life was spared. The day has been marked as Naag Panchami since then.
